Abertzale left (, ; ) is a term used to refer to the parties or organizations of the Basque nationalist/separatist left, stretching from

democratic socialism Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic ideology, economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and wor ...

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

. This leftist character is highlighted in contrast to the traditional '' jeltzale'' nationalism represented by the

Basque Nationalist Party The Basque Nationalist Party ( , EAJ; , PNV; , PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially the Basque National Party in English, is a Basque nationalist and regionalist political party. The party is located in the centre of the political spectrum. It has been de ...

(EAJ-PNV), a

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

and

Christian-democratic Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo-scholasticism, as well a ...

party, which has long been the largest in the Basque Country. The first examples of ''abertzale'' parties are the Basque Nationalist Republican Party (EAAE-PRNV), active from 1909 to 1913, and the

Basque Nationalist Action Basque Nationalist Action (, , EAE–ANV) is a Basque nationalist party based in Spain. Founded in 1930, it was the first Basque nationalist political party to exist running on a socialist program. On 16 September 2008, the party was outlawed by ...

(EAE-ANV), active from 1930 to 2008. They represented the non-confessional Basque nationalist references when

ETA Eta ( ; uppercase , lowercase ; ''ē̂ta'' or ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel, . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative, , in most dialects of Ancient Greek, it ...

was formed in 1959 by younger generations. ''Ezker abertzalea'' (or, in Spanish, ''izquierda abertzale'') is notably used when referring to the leftist-nationalist environment of

Batasuna Batasuna (; ) was a Basque nationalist political party. Based mainly in Spain, it was banned in 2003, after a court ruling declared proven that the party was financing ETA with public money. The party is included in the "European Union list of ...

, an outlawed political party. More recently, in 1986, a left-wing splinter group of EAJ-PNV led by Carlos Garaikoetxea formed a new social-democratic party, Basque Solidarity (EA). After ETA's permanent ceasefire (2010), EA engaged in a convergence process with the scattered historic Basque nationalist left closer to ETA. In 2011–2012, they joined forces in forming a succession of coalitions:

Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English language, English: 'Basque Country Gather' or 'Basque Country Unite'), is a Left-wing politics, left-wing, Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist and Separatism, pro-independence federation of poli ...

, Amaiur and, finally,

EH Bildu EH Bildu, short for Euskal Herria Bildu (English language, English: 'Basque Country Gather' or 'Basque Country Unite'), is a Left-wing politics, left-wing, Basque nationalism, Basque nationalist and Separatism, pro-independence federation of poli ...

. A group of former members of Batasuna were identified by the media as independents of ''izquierda abertzale''.

References

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